The National Bank of Kenya has announced a 77 per cent increase in its first quarter pre-tax profit.

The earnings, as at the end of March 2008, rose to Sh403 million compared to Sh228 million over the same period last year.

The bank's managing director, Mr Reuben Marambii, while releasing the quarterly results, expressed satisfaction with the bank's performance adding that the future looks promising.

Back to normal

"Despite the unfortunate happenings of the first two months of the year, we are happy that the business environment is slowly getting back to normal," he said on Thursday.

National Bank's strengthening of its marketing team saw its customer deposits increase by 20 per cent, up from Sh30 billion to Sh36 billion.

Aggressive marketing by banks has seen them use all manner of tactics in their bid to attract new clients especially through the direct marketing model.

The increase in the number of customers also reflected on the bank's total non-interest income, which grew by 48 per cent to Sh414 million from Sh280 million over the same period last year.

"The bank is always looking into ways that will widen access of the bank's products and services to customers. We are also studying the market to continuously offer customised products and services to suit the needs of our diverse customer base," said Mr Marambii.

Reduced expenses

At the same time, the bank's total operating expenses reduced from Sh914 million to Sh754 million indicating continued operational efficiency and improvement in quality of assets.

For the past 12 months, National Bank's shareholders' funds have increased from Sh3.4 billion to Sh5.2 billion.